The Covid-19 pandemic has put South Africa’s automotive industry back by about three years in achieving the “aspirational and ambitious targets” set for the industry in the SA Automotive Masterplan 2021 to 2035. This has resulted in the industry considering approaching the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition for an early review of the masterplan despite the industry achieving some new export performance records in 2021.
The objectives of the SA Automotive Masterplan 2035 are: Lamprecht said that in line with global trends, the South African economy and the domestic automotive industry sharply rebounded from the low-based, Covid-19 affected 2020 but the growth experienced since the initial shock has not been sufficient to return to pre-pandemic levels.